This weeks Top 10 list was almost a photo finish, because I couldn’t decide which of two songs should get the coveted #1 spot. At the beginning of the week, I synced new albums to listen to (because I had been seriously stuck on Sia, Beyonce and Rihanna for the past few months). Karen O, Jhene Aiko, Interpol, and a few others including Chris Brown’s “X”. I got stuck on a few songs on “X” and I was certain one of the songs would be my #1 pick this week, until Wednesday when I was working and found myself craving the Neo-Soul sounds of the likes of Maxwell, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild, Anthony Hamilton and Chrisette Michele. That altered things a lot, and makes for a pretty interesting Top 10 this week. Enjoy, and have a great weekend.

10. Jhene Aiko “W.A.Y.S.”

W.A.Y.S. = Why Aren’t You Smiling. I love Jhene and her acronyms (“W.T.H.” still cracks me up). I didn’t get too far into her solo debut, but this song stuck to me for a few reasons. It’s really inspiring, and I really related to the struggle she talks about in the song. Also, it’s just a nice song overall, I’m really digging this girl and her style.

9. Chrisette Michele “Epiphany (I’m Leaving)”

I LOVE CHRISETTE MICHELE. I don’t know how many of you watch “R&B Divas LA”, but she’s a part of it this season, and though I liked her before, I was really surprised that the reality show made me like her even more. So much so I finally decided to give her back catalogue a listen. This of course was a big hit, so I was most familiar with it and I played it out a bit this week. Great song.

8. Chris Brown featuring Brandy “Do Better”

That Brandy sure can sang! This is an awesome song.

7. Jill Scott “He Loves Me (Lyzel in E Flat)”

This has always been a favorite of mine, it’s so pretty and poetic. No shade, but I don’t think Jill ever topped her debut album, simply because her style was so unique. This song, among others, is a testament that she brought something really new and completely HERS to the industry. Classic shizz!

6. Maxwell “Pretty Wings”

I do. I love me some Maxwell, and even though I didn’t fully get into this song as much as his others it’s definitely an excellent song. Melodies, Instrumentation, Lyrics and Vocals are ALL on point.

5. Anthony Hamilton “I’m A Mess”

“CALL ME. WRITE ME. LOVE ME. COME HOME.” I LOVE a good majority of Hamilton’s soulful debut album, but this one takes the cake. The lyrics are so intense, the instrumentation is dripping with that old school soul-stank, and that ending choir and the pitch effects… AMAZING!

4. Jill Scott “A Long Walk”

Again, Jill and her debut album are so frikkin unique. I was into this massive hit this week and marvelled at her flawless ability to mix soul, poetry and hip hop into such a lovely song. I was actually surprised I remembered most of the lyrics, and how much the song made me smile.

I like “X” a lot, but DAMN… 22 songs! It took me pretty much ALL of Monday to finally get through the album and before this song I was getting bored of the album. This hit, with such a lovely beat and sweet harmonies and lyrics, I fell in love.

(I see Breezy is on his PRINCE-game, because I can’t find the audio to this song anywhere on YouTube. I’m not sure how to Embed shit from Tumblr so I’ll just link it… click on the song title above to hear the track)

2. Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne and Tyga “Loyal”

“Just got rich. Took a broke nigga’s bitch. I can make a broke bitch rich. But I don’t fuck with broke bitches.” I swear I never got into this song until this week (I had heard of it, but never heard it until the BET Awards), because it’s MAD Nigger-ish and Ignorant and Misogynistic and all’a’dat! But that beat is sick, I hella wanna go out to a club and get my dance on to it. Thus all the plays this week, I was working on my moves!!

1. Chrisette Michele “Charades”

THIS SONG IS SO GOOD “dot com period” !!! Yeah, I don’t even have anything else to say, it’s just a perfect flow and perfect mood. I was WAY into it this week. LOVE YA CHRISETTE.

Here’s just a blast from the past, the couple of months in 2008 I started my MySpace blog!

May 25, 2008 – Sunday

08 Album Reviews
Current mood: highCategory: Music

I got Usher “Here I Stand” today and was going to write a little review. And I figured since i have the time (i’m at work, but theres no research work to do and no calls coming in) i’ll go ahead and talk about some of the good cd’s that have been released this year.

Gnarls Barkley, “The Odd Couple” – definitley a cooled down/melancholy-ish version of their first album but it has some great StandOut tracks that rival “Crazy” or “Smiley Faces”. My favorites are “Charity Case”, “Whatever”, “Would be Killer”, “Going on” and the first single “Run”. The tracks, by Danger Mouse, are just hella moody and than Cee-lo brings the perfect lyrical and vocal arrangements to match the tracks. I would imagine it would be hard to write to some of the tracks so i give Mr. Green all the props.

The Divas: Janet, “Discipline“/Madonna, “Hard Candy“/Mariah, “E=MC2”

Mariah Carey definitely wins this race by a mile. Madonna’s “Hard Candy” is very — Different, and i do give her credit for trying something new. i HATE the first single with Timberlake, so my expectations were very Low for this album (because “4 Minutes” and the other leaked track “Candy Shop” sounded like re-treads of Nelly Furtado/Gwen Stefani tracks). I think Pharrell is the real star of this album though, his production on “Incredible” (http://youtube.com/watch?v=Va6eBb2osrs) “Heartbeat” and “Give it 2 Me” are damn-near Amazing. These tracks renew my faith in the Neptunes (who had been slowly dying up until Jay-Z’s “I Know”). It’s a true DANCE album, and at least she sticks to that concept. Janet’s “Discipline” on the other hand starts out really good. Than, it slips into a completley different album and vibe. And than towards the end it sounds like she just tacked on some unreleased stuff from years ago (“What Ur Name” and “The 1” seriously sound like they were recorded and mixed and mastered and shelved in 2004). I think the problem is that it’s too long, she should have shaved some fillers out of the mix. Still “2Nite” “LUV” “Greatest X” and “Rock With U” are still Standouts and worth listening to over and over. And ofcourse the first single “Feedback” still has heat.

But, Mariah. I think “E=MC2” is her best album. It’s an album that has No-Filler. Every song has something about it that makes you want to come back. The album has been out almost 2 months, and it seems like i have a new favorite song every week. “Side Effects” “OOC” “For the Record” “Cruise Control” and “Migrate” ofcourse is undeniable thanks to that undeniably addictive every-Man T-Pain. Mariah took her time and put together a truly Solid Album.

The Roots, “Rising Down”

I’m not a big fan of the Roots. I own two of their albums but don’t really listen to them all that much. So ofcourse i wasn’t expecting to even Care about a new Roots album. I saw the video for “Rising Up” on BET and loved it so i was like, what the hell i’ll download it. This cd is shockingly good to me, i like every song. It’s like every song has this intensity on it that you can’t deny (“Get Busy” “The Show” “I will not apologize” for example) and every song has some pretty important lyrics that are definitley refreshing to hear. They even have some ready made Radio-friendly tracks, however i guess it’s sad because i doubt i’ll hear “Singing Man” or “Rising Up” on the radio over something like “Get Silly”. This is definitley my biggest surprise of 2008.

I take that back. Panic at the Disco, “Pretty.Odd” is oddly good. I mean it has this whole oldie Beatle early 60’s rock type vibe to it and i wasn’t expecting that from the people who sang about a bride being a “Whore” on their last album. So i guess i was surprised to listen to it and find it… Pleasant Lol! I dont know, it’s not one of my Favorite albums of the year at all — but it’s a nice album that i may end up getting into more as the year progresses.

Danity Kane, “Welcome to the Dollhouse“/Day26, “Day26”

I was definitley wrapped up in the Making the Band series when i was into these two albums. Now that the season has worn off, i realize these two albums aren’t really as great as i thought they were at first. Danity Kane’s is alright , standouts being “Sucka for Love” and “Xtasy”. Most of the album though sounds like a Rihanna/Britney/Pussycat Dolls wannabe-electro-pop-r&b/light sound so the songs may not be Terrible, but end up being pretty forgettable. Day26’s sounds more like a Jagged Edge/Jodeci/112 compilation. I like most of the songs, but again… they are pretty forgettable. I gravitate more towards the uptempos “I’m the Reason” “Im my Bed”. and “Co-Star” is a REALLY great song (vocally) which shld be a single. I give them credit for putting together a pretty solid cd for their first time… but neither of those two albums will even really be remembered at the end of the year.

Usher, “Here I Stand”

So — the album i had the highest expectations for. And yeah, okay… Usher pretty much delivers. He MIGHT have the same problem as Janet though with maybe too many songs. However, i just downloaded it today so it still needs time to truly grow on me. That being said, there are already a number of stand-outs that i see myself looking stupid in the car singing along to. “Whats Your Name” (http://youtube.com/watch?v=yuiImpkZ4k8) with Will.i.am is HOT!!! “Trading Places” (http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ovm-VWS0VgI) or “Before I met you” should definitley be the third or fourth single. “This aint sex” “His mistakes” and “Apetite” are other instant standouts. The rest is pretty okay, there’s only one song i really dont like. I will say that Vocally, he definitley is miles ahead of the Timberlakes and Chris Browns and NeYo’s. All in all, after only having the cd for a few hours I really like it though. I’ll definitley buy it on the 27th.

I cant remember right now any other cd’s i may have downloaded, but those are definitley the top ones of the year. I’m eagerly anticipating a few of the upcoming releases though. N.E.R.D. (6/10) is probably the Most anticipated right now, Weezer (6/3), Lil Wayne (6/10), Coldplay (6/17), Ne-Yo (8/5), Nas (7/1), Sean Paul, Busta Rhymes are some of the ones dropping in the summer that i can think of.

so signing off — The Drums, The Drums, The Drums, The Drums…

(The Ting Tings “Great DJ”)

EDIT: I forgot about Erykah Badu

Erykah Badu, “New Amerykah, Part One”

The reason i probably forgot to mention this, is because it’s my biggest let-down of the year so far. I Love Love Erykah, but it took me Years to get into her last album “Worldwide Underground” and i feel like this album will have to have the same fate. I do like a few of the songs already, first single “Honey” and “That Hump” definitely speaks to me and cheers me up. Other songs are pretty good (oh yeah “Hip Hop The Healer” is pretty awesome) but i haven’t listened to that full cd in so long i dont even remember a title. I will say that the “Honey” video is probably my favorite music video i’ve seen in Years. It reminds me of being little and looking through my mom’s/aunts/uncles record collections =)

So June is officially over, about 5 hours ago, and I didn’t post any reviews of the new music i’ve gotten this past month. So let’s just go ahead and do that Now!

First of all, the last blog i said that Usher’s “Here I Stand” may grow on me. Well unfortunately it hasn’t. I barely listen to it anymore. It’s such a run of the mill R&B album and for Usher that’s a No-No. So i’m pretty much over Usher in the 08. And did you see his BET Award performance?? He was so tired, he was lipsynching and we hasn’t Hitting his moves. Really disapointing.

Anyhow onto the June reviews.

N*e*R*D,Seeing Sounds

Nerd’s first album was pretty awesome. It dealt with concepts you didn’t really hear, and the mixing of Rock/Alternative/HipHop was genius at the time and really refreshing. Their second album was a more polished album sonically, however it didn’t have as many solid tracks. Seeing Sounds is completely different from both two albums. I have yet to determine what exactly the albums main message is… what i can assume is a message of “DO YOU!” but i could be wrong. All of that aside, it’s a really good album. The production this time is CRAZY! The group still plays with Rock and Alternative and mixing it with pop, but this album also introduces more of an Electronica vibe and some Drum and Bass thrown in the mix. The concepts of the songs are pretty out there, but some are really relateable. All in all, I’d give this the stamp of approval. “Windows” “Spaz” “You know What” and “Sooner or Later” are my favorites (along with the UK only bonus cut “Lazer Gunz”- which is the first song you hear when you log on to my page).

Coldplay,Viva la Vida or Death and all his Friends

Okay here’s the deal. I thought “XY” was an amazing album. However i read somewhere that the critics didn’t agree with me. Now i’m reading really great reviews of This album and I don’t know if i agree. The album is cool. I really really like the song “Lost!” and a few others. However, it’s not really a memorable album thus far for me. I know that i enjoyed a majority of it because most of the album is still on my iPod. But there is nothing like “Talk” or “Square One” on this album. It’s very mellow. Chris sounds good though, and the band does do some awesome musical arrangements. I just wish i could remember more than 4 song titles.

Weezer,Weezer aka The Red Album

“Heart Songs”. That’s the reason to get this CD. It’s an awesome song just about their musical influences growing up. The first time i heard it, it sounded just like a normal love song, with a great track that i instantly loved. When i listened to the lyrics i fell in love with the song even more. Aside from that song, the first half of this album is good. The second half kind of ventures off into terrain that’s a bit less adventurous, more predictable and unoriginal. “Everybody get Dangerous” “Trouble maker” and “Pork and Beans” are the only other real standouts. Not that great. Not that bad.

Lil Wayne,Tha Carter III

So he’s the greatest rapper alive eh??

Well this album isn’t bad. I must admit though that i can’t listen to it all the way through. It’s like he’ll have some nice cuts like “Mr. Carter” “Dr. Carter” “Shoot me Down”, and than have two or three less than thrilling tracks afterwards. A pretty uneven album, that actually sounds like he had been saving tracks for the past two years and just put them on this album. Making it sound like more of a compilation album than an actual album. BUT, i can’t fault him. That’s the way of Hip Hop these days. I wish’d he would have done something like “Hip hop is dead” or “American Gangster” where all the songs have a vibe about them. Maybe in the future. For right now this is a pretty solid Hip Hop album (which pretty much sticks to the Hip Hop album Norm) with a number of filler tracks. By the way i also like “Got Money” “Let the beat build” ofcourse “Lollipop” and “A Milli” and i actually like the one with Babyface “Comfortable”.

Now let’s talk about the BET Awards.

I THINK?? they gave out some awards?? I’m pretty sure. But we all know that the BET Awards (and any other Music award show for that matter) is about the Performances. I already told you all what i thought of tired ass Usher (I really think this was not the right time for him to come back out/ i think he’s dealing with his own personal issues and is just not invested in the music thing right now… i could be wrong). It was funny thought because I’m sure Chris Brown and Ne-Yo were super nervous thinking they couldn’t top him. But they did. Chris Brown did a Slower set which surprised me. He started with “With you” and than into “Take you down”, where Ciara came out and did some nasty/naughty dance moves with Breezy. The only bad thing about his performance was … it was too short! Since about 2006, me and my friend had said that a Chris Brown/Ciara dance off type thing would be the Dopest thing ever. And yes when they got into their danceOff part they Killed. But it just didn’t last long enough.

Ne-Yo, in my opinion, KILLED IT. He’s not the best dancer (and i noticed that on second viewing) but he knew better than to do some difficult ass choreography because he still had to actually sing Live. When he did hit his moves, he Hit them. And i think the best thing, it seemed like he was trying to pull off this “Year of the Gentleman” persona… and being able to hold onto that character while dancing and singing and hitting your marks and working the stage… to a House song… is most likely pretty difficult and he pulled it off. Standing Ovation! I cant wait to hear what his album is gonna be like.

Alicia Keys seemed like she was the highlight of the night to most people i talked to. She basically did her own “Teenage Love Affair” with three backup dancer/singers. Like a girl group right? Than she broke it down and started singing “Weak” and everybody was like WTF. And than SWV came out and finished the song with her, than EnVogue came and sang “Hold On” with her. And than TLC or TC came out and did “Waterfalls”. It was definitley nice to see all these chicks that used to love back in Jr. High again. Nice performance Ms. Keys.

Another person I was REALLY glad to see again was Maxwell. His performance was My personal favorite of the night. He was the third performer in a Al Green Tribute. Jill Scott did her thing with “Still in love”, Anthony Hamilton sounded so much like Mr. Green on “Tired of being alone” but Maxwell killed it with “Simply Beautiful”. And one thing i do have to say about the BET awards, i LOVE when they do the tributes. Because when the actual Tributee is on stage doing their thing, you see in the audience all the different generations of performers from different styles singing along.

Who else performed? Well TPain did a mix of all his “featured on” hits with Rick Ross and FloRida and all the gaggles of rappers that were on that “Im so Hood” remix. TPain came BACK out during Lil Waynes closing performance. These performances were good and all, but not worth writing about. Nothing else was really worth writing about. But i do have to put Keyshia Cole on blast. She sounded terrible. And, okay maybe i’ll rephrase. Her voice in itself wasn’t bad. But she does not know how to use her voice , Live. She really needs to work on that.

But the 08 BET Awards was pretty okay. Better than last year.

July 21, 2008 – Monday

Nas… ” ” better known as “Nigger”
Current mood: melancholyCategory: Music

THE most anticipated album of 2008 did not disapoint.

Nas’ past few albums have been like Textbooks to me. An album that talks in many ways about one issue. So, much like a textbook, i really need to study the material and than come up with an overall feeling for said Textbook. Therefore my final review for this album is still Pending.

I’ll say now that it IS a great album, it did NOT disapoint. And current standouts are “America” “N.I.G.G.E.R.” “Y’all my Niggas” and “Black President”. Every song is great though. Support this man… maaan!

September 15, 2008 – Monday

Janet Live! and Ne-Yo – Reviews
Current mood: breezyCategory: Music

I finally went to a concert!!!! So i missed the major concert i wanted to see this year and that was the Glow in the Dark tour. I also missed Mary J and JayZ, Coldplay, Musiq Soulchild, and Alicia keys. I missed the Killers last year and just barely was able to see Beyonce. So with work sucking at the maximum capacity for the last two weeks, i just needed to let off some steam and get drunk and get loud. So me and my friend Aleta finally decided to go to the Janet Jackson show. A couple of cool things happened though, we didn’t have to pay for parking AND i only bought $40 tickets… but i think the show just wasn’t selling, so people that worked at the arena were running around Giving people seats in the lower sections… so basically i paid $40 for $120 tickets. AWESOME!!! How often does that happen? Never! At least not for me.

The show… yeah i guess it was cool. Lol! No i had fun. I think just the fact that Janet was onstage for 2.5 Hours singing pretty much ALL of her hits. In fact i think she did ALL of her hit singles, and a few album tracks from the new album and some verry verry old songs… and songs that don’t belong in the Oldies but ‘Good’ies category. It was a fun show for the fact that she kept it moving. I’m not gonna get too negative on her, there are a few things that i have small gripes with. They are very minor though, so it didn’t take away from the whole experience.

So i had fun, and it made me kinda miss concerts!! Hopefully 09 will be a better year for me. Kanye GO ON TOUR AGAIN NEXT YEAR PLEASE!!!!

And now my album review.

Ne-Yo “Year of the Gentleman”

When “Closer” came out around April of this year, Ne-yo’s album shot to the top of my most anticipated albums of the year… and I dont even really like dude. The album was supposed to drop in june originally, than it got pushed back to August, and now it’s being released this Tuesday the 16th. In the months it’s taken to actually be released, I did seriously lose a little interest. And the followup single “Miss Independent” is good, but it wasn’t as hot or different as “Closer”.

Anyway the album leaked, and even though it’s not quite what I expected it’s still easily the best album by an R&B Dude to come out this year (Take that Usher!)

The album is really alot more laidback than I expected. In fact I expected a totally different sound from the interviews he was giving talking about the album, that it would be really different, how he’s tired of R&B, how Patrick Stump of FallOutBoy was supposed to collaborate on a track. And when i listened to the album, the first thing i thought was What Happened. It’s a total R&B album, nothing else… “Closer” is the only thing on the album that seperates itself from Ne-Yo’s sound from his previous two albums.

What I’ll give Ne-Yo credit for is his songwriting and the ability to make some catchy hooks. Easily one of the top songs on the album, “Why Does She Stay” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH8rKj6VYi0 is a good example. It’s just really refreshing to hear lyrics like:

I step outside of myself
To see how much she loves me
And all the things that i should do for her that i just dont…

just dont…
And i realize

She’s so much better than me
Im so unworthy of her

Why does she stay ?

Which is quite a change from the “I cheated on her, now i dont understand why she doesn’t trust me” or the “I’m so much better than your current dude, you need to drop him and get with me” type of songs that come from most R&B Dudes (Take that Usher!)

Bottom line, this 12 track album has Several potential hits… and even if he didn’t go outside of his box as much as i expected (and that was probably more due to his label and those politics than him) he still delivered.

September 28, 2008 – Sunday

Saadiq, The Way I See It – Review
Current mood: annoyedCategory: Music

It must really suck to have your very first solo album be a Masterpeice. Where do you go from there?? Usually down. It happened to Lauryn Hill, and unfortunatley it looks like it’s happened to Raphael Saadiq. 2002’s “Instant Vintage” was easily the most refreshingly soulful album released that year, if not the whole decade. And his just released third solo album shows that even though this man is still obviously a genius, he seems to be having a hard time matching the artistic success of his first outing.

Not to say that “The Way I See It” is a bad album. It’s a step above decent. It’s a throwback to the 60’s and 70’s Motown sound. And the inspirations behind a couple of the songs are painfully obvious. The album definitley stays true to that sound, and the songs end up sounding like they literally could be put on a Motown hit album and fit perfectly. And, that might be a bit of the problem with the album. You’ve got Amy Winehouse, Duffy, and even Solange Knowles (i know right) using the 60’s throwback style but the difference is that they also add contemporary elements to make it something new. Saadiq didn’t add any up to date elements to make the songs pop a little more, but maybe he didn’t want to.

Having said that, the song “Oh Girl” is easily the best song on the album. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0qJ_V66n8Q It’s actually a little more “DooWop” than the rest of the album, the fact that the production is so raw and the lyrical and melody are so simple. Much like “Still Ray” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoyaITkdLA0 from “Instant Vintage”, a simple song all around that makes such a powerful memorable classic. Some other high points on “The way i see it” are “Calling”, which is also a simple slow burner, the first single “Love that girl”, and “Never Give You Up” which features the Legend Stevie Wonder.

Outside of that, it’s a decent album to have on but it’s nothing that i’m running to my iPod to listen to. Though, like i say alot, it might grow on me. His second solo cd “Ray Ray” i seriously only listened to it once when it was released in 2004, and just last year I started to listen and it really grew on me. So maybe in 2011 or something I’ll fully appreciate this album. For right now, it’s Aaiiight! =)

So this week was a bit of an exciting week for music, at least for me. There were two highly anticipated album releases this past Tuesday in the form of T.I.’s 6th album “Paper Trail” and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson’s self titled debut album. Some news on Beyonce’s upcoming third solo album, and single releases from Pop Queens Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Ciara and The Killers also released their first singles from their upcoming Fall releases.

So where to start?

Britney vs Christina. The late 90’s Pop Tarts are back, and practically going head to head this Fall. Ofcourse Christina Aguilera’s album coming November 7th is just a Greatest Hits (“Keeps Gettin’ Better — A Decade of Hits”), and Britney’s “Circus” due November 23rd is a full fledged studio album which is supposed to be her “ComeBack” (even though her last album was released a little over a year ago, but whatever!). However their first singles are being released just a few weeks apart from each other, and oddly enough they sound almost exactly the same. Christina’s “Keeps Getting Better” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsnOdf3_8jc) was debuted officially at the recent MTV VMA’s during an lipsynched, Lady Gaga inspired performance. And just like the lackluster performance, the song is very boring. Coming from Christina Aguilera, this single is a true disapointment. For an artist who has always prided herself on going against the grain of the Pop scene and doing her own thing, this song sounds like every other song on Dance/Pop radio these days. It sounds like Britney Spears (specifically Britney’s “Blackout” album cut “Radar” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3wvPts-Z8w) and the mere fact that the song sounds like Anybody other than Christina warrants a pretty low rating. Britney’s new single “Womanizer” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_bu4N5qacU) isn’t much better, it’s a dance/pop/electronic upbeat song that is very similar to pretty much all of Britney’s post-KFed recordings. It’s a fun, upbeat song though. You can definitley dance to it. And even though I personally Hate the hook on the song, it’s damn catchy and something as repetitive as that is only going to help the song gain popularity.

Beyonce. Ms. Destiny’s Child or Mrs. Jay-Z or Miss Sasha is also planning a Fall release (scheduled for November 18th) with an as yet untitled album. Unlike Britney and Xtina, Beyonce has not released hardly ANY info. She is slated to premiere Two new singles on Tuesday October 7th, and it’s pretty surprising in this Digital Day and Age that neither of these singles have leaked online yet. Not even a snippet has leaked. It’s quite impressive that she was able to withold it from leaking, and a smart move as well. However on different blogs and message boards there is information that has been gathered to keep us Stans happy while we wait. An official statement from Beyonce’s camp has the two song titles as “If I Were a Boy” and “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)”. The former is being pushed to Pop radio, and is written and produced by Toby Gad who is behind Fergie’s monster hit of last year “Big Girls Dont Cry”. There was a demo of this song released a few weeks ago, it’s sung by the cowriter of the song but it’s allegedly alot different than the final version Beyonce recorded and wrote additional lyrics to. Give it a listen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpWHml42_Rg . The other single is produced by Tricky and written by The-Dream who have basically appeared on every R&B and Pop album released since their massive hit “Umbrella” last year. No other info was given out on this song besides the facts that the song is upbeat, the video is done and the dancing in said video is supposedly “On Point”. Additionally, like i said before there is no album title yet but a few things have been passed around online. The first official report had the album titled “Virtuoso Intellect” which was quickly followed by “Virtuoso Effect”. Than a few weeks ago on one of the boards, someone very trusted that allegedly works really close to Beyonce said the album title would be “sumthin u hear her say all the time”. A few days later, it was reported somewhere that “Empowerment” was the title. All this mystery! I think that’s good, there’s no mystery left with albums these days.

Jennifer Hudson. She stole all the spotlight from Beyonce during the promotions for her Oscar winning role in “Dreamgirls”, but apparently the spotlight might not shine too long on Hudson’s music career. Her self titled debut album came out September 30th to some Very underwhelming reviews from some of her die hard fans. I personally haven’t listened to the album yet so i’m just reporting what i read, which was that the self titled debut is nothing but a hodgepodge of different styles and that it doesn’t work too well. I may just download it this weekend and post another review if i feel it’s worthy. I do know that she needs to release a follow up single, because “Spotlight” the albums first single, died Months ago.

By the way, i did download The Pussycat Dolls second album “Doll Domination” last week. And surprise surprise, it doesn’t totally suck. A Very predictable pop album for sure, but they are a predictable pop group so you can’t expect much else. Only about half of the album is worth listening to. Top songs being “Halo” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Jf9moh09so) “Hate this Part” “Elevator” ‘Happily Never After” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqWL1C2Etik) “Magic” and a song that is really stupid but i just can’t get enough of “Bottle Pop”. Everything else is really Average, not terrible but not memorable at all. And while we are on predictable pop groups, New Kids on the Block delivered a reunion album a few weeks (months?) ago, and aided by their recent VH1 Behind the Music special (and my B urging me to listen to it) I checked out some of the songs. I didn’t like many of the songs, they aren’t bad… but those dudes are out of it. I don’t totally remember New Kids from the 90’s, i wasn’t that into them just maybe two or three songs here and there, but it seems like Jordan and Joey are the only ones who can actually sing and the others just kind of phone in their vocals. Still “Click Click Click” is a really good song, and i can’t get “Twisted” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pScuRQjqRoo) out of my head for the life of me.

Keeping in the vibe of Average albums, I have to talk about Jason Mraz. I think “We Sing.We Dance.We Steal Things” is now his third studio album, and with “Im Yours” being such a great single, i felt a little compelled to listen to the whole thing. The problem, Jason Mraz is obviously a talented guy. He has a great talent for coming up with creative melodies and he seems to have some great musical influences, and the problem is that either he or his label don’t know which influence they want to copy from the most. There are some really awful songs on this album, for instance “Butterfly” which is him obviously trying to be Jamiroquai with terrible results. Honestly there are really only two singles you need to hear, the first single “I’m Yours” and his duet with Colbie Caillat “Lucky”. While you get those online, get “The Remedy” from his first album in 2002. This is the song that made me take a first notice at this guy. I think he has potential to be a huge artist, but unfortunatley this album isn’t really going to take him there.

That finally brings us to T.I., whose 6th album “Paper Trail” dropped the same day as Jennifer Hudsons. And it’s evident that T.I. is going to anihalate her on the charts come Thursday, and you know what… he kind of deserves to. This album is still Typical Hip Hop. Pretty much the same concepts, the same producers, the same type of songs. However T.I. is one of the dudes who actually has talent so him alone sets this album apart from Every Other Hip Hop album. Funny that it sounds so much like his other albums though, at certain points during listening to the album I thought “T.I.’s the Jagged Edge of Hip Hop”, meaning those R&B dudes tend to release the exact same album year after year. However i love Jagged Edge, and yeah i love T.I., so it ends up working in his case. Best songs include ofcourse “Swagga Like Us” with Jayz Kanye and Weezy, “Ready for Whatever”, “My Life Your Entertainment” with Usher, “Live your Life” with Rihanna, “I’m Illy”, “Porno Star”. All the rest of it is good though, and ofcourse this will probably end up growing on me in the coming months, there is already enough to get me to want to actually listen to the album more than once.

Oh, last but not least… The Killers have a new single out. It’s called “Human” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvVOoCKjonY) and it’s produced by Stuart Price who i f’ing LOVE. He’s one of those Euro Electronic artists, he has a bunch of electronic groups that he heads and he also produces and remixes under various aliases. He actually contributed a hit remix to “Mr Brightside” under the alias Jacques Lu Cont. Anyway i love that guy, and i love the Killers so i obviously love the song. I really can’t wait for the album “Day and Age” which is supposed to drop November 11th. They also have a show in San Francisco on October 21st. Who Wants to Go With Me???

Additonally, there have been some shake ups with other Fall releases…

Keri Hilson’s “In this world” has been moved from October 7th to November 4th. And TPain’s “Thr33 Ringz” moves from September 30th to November 11th.

October 14, 2008 – Tuesday

New Videos
Current mood: chipperCategory: Music

Beyonce’s back!! Nobody should be surprised that I’m excited, but i think people will be surprised how awesome her two new videos are. Ofcourse “If I were a boy” as a single and video completely Shit on “Single Ladies”, but they are both good efforts.

If I were a Boy is a cinematic, movie styled music video with a bit of a Power struggle/role reversal plot going on. Its just really well done, and the video fits the song perfectly. The twist ending seals the deal and makes it that much more powerful. And there’s all kinds of Hotness in the video as well.

Single ladies is really simple. Its just her and two girls dancing on a plain set. The lighting and the cinematography on this video Amaze me and are really the stars in the video. The choreography is simple, but has some interesting moves in there and really sexy. And beyonce’s legs… OMY! The song is still kind of boring to me though.

So Common released “Unviersal mind control” earlier in the summer, so i’m not sure why he’s just now getting around to releasing a video for the single. Frankly he should have chosen a new single to make a video to. But anyhow, the video is kinda cool… i like the Pharrell robot. but Common is looking a little long in the tooth these days, so it kinda feels like it’s not … hmm… Age Appropriate. This should have been Lupe’s video.

Ciara also premiered a new video this month, and while the video is insanely futurstic and original. The song in my opinion doesn’t match. And i really like the song. But the sound is very urban, very “driving down Mission with the bass bumping” and the video needed something a little more Futuristic, Electronic sounding. Ciara is still the best dancer out there right now, and this video at least proves that.

Last, and pretty much LEAST (lol) is Britney Spears’ “Womanizer”. Okay i have to admit the video is kinda cute. It reminds me ALOT of one of her other classic videos, “Toxic”, it almost follows the concept exactly. Britney looks really good though, i mean not only is her body back on point, but even her face. It’s not all puffy, and she actually has life in her eyes. All in all this video is pretty good I can’t lie. It’s entertaining, never boring, and visually appealing, and it did the job a video is sometimes supposed to do and it makes the song a little more bearable. It’s just a little predictable for Britney, it seems like she does the same stuff over and over. But i think i’ve already made that complaint.

P!nk, T-Pain, John Legend, Ray Lamontagne, and Fall Out Boy … Week in Music
Current mood: irritatedCategory: Music

I love my iPod, i mean i would probably literally bust out in tears if anything bad were ever to happen to it. (That being said, i really need a new one) I’m starting to love my iTunes just as much because it really is one of the only places I check out regularly that keeps me up to date on whats new. I hate the radio, and there are hardly ever any music videos on music video channels, I watch stuff on youtube but that’s really only when i’m specifically searching for an artist or if somebody on a message board links the video. Other than that, I would be a lot more out of the loop if it weren’t for iTunes. For instance, this Tuesday I go on there to check out “What’s New” “What’s Hot” and notice some dude named Ray Lamontagne is sitting at the top of the iTune album chart. I clicked on some of the samples from his album, and the voice made me download it. The album “Gossip In the Grain” is not necessarily the type of album i would normally listen to, it’s very folk/blues/rock and very mellow love songs. However a great voice will make you pay attention to things you normally wouldn’t, and this guy has a really awesome unique voice. It’s perfectly suited for rock with it’s raspiness, but it also has a deep soul to it that is somewhat close to Temptations’ David Ruffin or Sam Cooke. Still, for me there aren’t many stand outs on the album, it’s a nice alternative option for me when i’m bored with Overproduced Pop tracks (and believe it or not, that Does happen from time to time).

I also found two new Fall Out Boy singles. Actually I downloaded “I Dont Care” a few weeks ago, and it’s a cool song, kind of typical Fall Out Boy song. This week they released a follow up in the form of “What a Catch, Donnie” and this song is really … pretty… amazing. And speaking of Voices, I definitley think Patrick Stump has the Best Male Voice out there today, at least in the commercial mainstream Pop world. He just knows How to sing and How to perfectly compliment the song with his voice and vice versa, and he nails this song which is somewhat of a ballad for them. (The best part of the song actually is towards the end, they incorporate some of their older hits into the closing melody… Nice!)

Staying in the Rock for the Pop Charts frame of mind, Pink‘s 5th album “Funhouse” will be released in stores October 28th and although i got it online already, it would actually be worth the purchase. I’ve always loved Pink, and even though her last four albums have all been more Rocked Out Pop than the R&B of her first album, each album always takes a slightly different direction. The 4th album “I’m Not Dead”, for instance, was way more of a Fun Popped up Rock album while the one before that “Try This” (which btw was criminally underrated, check out “Save My Life” and “Waiting for Love”) was alot darker deeper and moodier than anything she released before. Unfortunatley, or maybe Fortunatley for some, “Funhouse” is more of a mash up of both of those albums. There are an awful lot of slower songs, surprising given the albums title. Those slower songs do happen to be the best off the album, the second single “Sober”, the albums closer “Glitter in the Air” and the should-be single “I Dont Believe You”. All of these tracks show off her awesome voice, which apparently has grown quite a bit in the last 2 years. These slower tracks also showcase some great songwriting which is rare in the current Pop scene. I must say that this album was Obviously inspired by her divorce and she talks about it Alot in a huge number of the songs on this album. There are a few upbeats on this album, nothing as fun as “U + Ur Hand” or “Cuz I Can” or even this albums first single “So What”. “It’s your fault” “Ave Mary A” and “Bad Influence” are the best of the more uptempo half of the album. Overall, Pink always delivers even if she didn’t really do anything all that Risky with this album.

Let’s get back to how great iTunes is for a second. I notice they’ve been doing this thing for certain artists where they release a different song every week or so as a “Countdown” to the album release. They did it for T.I. leading up to “Paper Trail”‘s release, and it seems like they are doing it for both T-Pain and John Legend who have albums releasing within the month. Now John Legend’s last album “Once again” was one of my favorites, and the First single he dropped on iTunes, “Green Light”, is one of the best of this year. Featuring Andre 3000, it’s an uptempo club banger booty/bass track which is a departure for Legend’s slowed down R&B style he normally goes for. And the music video fits perfectly. He followed that up with a ballad “If You’re Out There”, and yeah it’s one of those Inspirational anthems and i’m not a big fan of those but the lyrics are on point. I just never feel the need to want to hear it. I downloaded the other two singles he’s dropped “No Other Love” featuring Estelle and “Everybody Knows” — but haven’t gotten around to listening to them.

T-Pain, Teddy Pain, Nappy Booi-o-e!, Teddy Pinned-her-ass-Down, whatever you wanna call him. I know ALOT of people say they are sick of him and his vocoder, but i’ve never gotten tired of him. In fact every single thing he touches i seem to like… if only for his verse or hook on the song. He has a talent for melodies and hooks, and the singles released so far from his upcoming 3rd album “Thr33 Ringz” are all proof of his obvious hit making skills. By now i think everybody’s heard “Can’t Believe it” featuring Lil Wayne, which is some what of a slow jam/love song, took me a minute to get into this song but it’s definitley solid. “Silver and Gold” is actually Not available on iTunes and Won’t make the final cut of the album, but check it out… it’s just a fun Dranking song in the vein of “Bartender” and “Buy U a drank”. I guess there was some “controversy” with Kirk Franklin in regards to this song, apparently Franklin also has a Gospel song titled “Silver and Gold” and he was Upset that T-Pain used the same title to sing about liquor (“Drinkin both kindsa Patron’s/ I done mixed up Silver and Gold” as opposed to “I’d rather have Jesus/ than Silver and Gold”). I’m curious if this is the reason the song isn’t included on the albums tracklist, if so that’s weak, i mean it’s only a TITLE!! Not the first time two artists have shared the same song title and the songs have been drastically different.

Anyhow, he released “Chopped ‘N Skrewed” featuring Ludacris last week and this week “Freeze” featuring Chris Brown. Now I do like both of these songs, but these might be evidence that T-Pain may just be dipping in the hitmaking. They just sound very similar to his other songs… “Chopped ‘N Skrewed” actually sounds like a Chopped and Screwed version of “Silver and Gold” but Ludacris does contribute a nice verse that’s worth checking out. And “Freeze” kind of reminds me of that one song he did with Lil Mama “Shawty get Loose”, it’s a nice dance song and it has a cool hook but i don’t really see it going anywhere.

And lastly, I heard probably the 2nd Worst Song of 2008. Here is actually my rankings for the Worst songs this year…

1. Vanessa Hudgens, Sneakernight — I dont even want to waste much time talking about this CRAP, I’ll just say I’ve learned to Mute the commercials when I’m watching Nickelodeon (this song is played on her EckoRed commercial that they seem to play every 10 seconds on Nick!)

2. Pleasure P, Did you Wrong — Heard this song today and WOW it’s Terrible! Dude can’t sing (AT ALL), the concept is played the Fk out, and the lyrics are just plain stupid and lazy, example:

I ain’t tryna waste your time
And, I ain’t tryna waste my time
There ain’t no need to waste no time
’cause we done put in too much time
I ain’t tryna waste your time
I ain’t tryna waste my time
Ain’t no need to waste no time
’cause we done put in too much time

TERRIBLE!!

3. Ashanti, Good Good — So at least she put out a decent music video behind this Mess. However this is Ashanti stooping to the lowest common denominator… Come up with a stupid repetitive hook and not even worry about anything else and i’ll get a hit. Wrong! I think this song may have finally put that nail in the coffin that is her Career.

Alright, until next week…

November 2, 2008 – Sunday

John Legend “Evolver” – Review
Current mood: energeticCategory: Music

I wish I wasn’t so lazy. I intended to include my review of John Legend‘s new album “Evolver” in my updated Week in Music blog last Monday. I was lazy, so I didn’t. And I’ve been putting off for a few days (I had a test this week so studying kind of took up my time), all the while knowing I was going to write a Glowing review of the album because it is really that good.

Firstly, I’ll just say that I haven’t been a Huge fan of Legend. I didn’t really like his debut album “Get Lifted” all that much, and wasn’t really even excited when his follow up was released in 2006. Eventually (thanks to Starbucks) I bought the second album “Once Again” and it became one of my top plays of 2007. And a pattern I can sense with John Legend that I hope he continues is that he keeps all the songs on one album in the same Vibe and they seem to all be connected. Much like some of the greats have done in the past. “Evolver” isn’t a Legendary or even Amazing album, but because everything flows so well into each other I think this is probably one of the best ALBUMS of the year. And by ALBUM i mean something that was put together to be appreciated on the whole and not just a Compilation type album (Janet, Usher). The Vibe… To me, being that I’m so damn old (LoL) is very early 90’s. Makes sense, the pop charts have been dominated by 80’s inspired music the past 5 years… the natural transition would be to bite off music of the 90’s. Except on “Evolver” there are subtle hints of the 90’s under pretty contemporary production, like the PM Dawn inspired harmony tacked on the end of “Everybody knows”, the SWV sample on “It’s Over”, and even the lyrical content of “Quickly” is very reminiscent of A/C Phil Collins. Again, just subtle hints so the music on the whole does sound really Fresh and original. And there are some classic songs on here, the music industry is so unpredictable these days so i’m not sure if “Everybody Knows” or “This Time” will get the success on Pop radio that it deserves. They are both Classic ballads that rival Richard Marx, Bryan Adams and Michael Jackson in the 90’s, with very relatable lyrics and slick production. The whole album is solid, there’s not one song I hate or would even skip past (okay maybe “If You’re Out There” which is more along the lines of a Gloria Estefan power ballad for the Olympics or in this case a Democratic Campaign — GO OBAMA!!) but some definite stand outs for me are “I Love To, Love” (reminds me of “Show Me” from the last album… but sweeter) “Cross the Line” (Love the production on this) and “It’s Over” (Kanye kinda kills it, again!).

All in all, it’s definitley John Legend’s Best, but on top of that it hopefully showcases what we can expect from him in the future, solid ALBUMS and not just singles.

November 11, 2008 – Tuesday

Beyoncé “I Am…” – Review
Current mood: okayCategory: Music

No matter what anybody says, Beyoncé is definitley the closest thing we’ve seen to a Living Legend in a long time. And it’s not even because she’s the Best vocalist, or the best dancer. It’s not because her songs are groundbreaking or even original or innovative. It’s basically because she’s so well rounded a artist/performer/celebrity. She combines her talents with her image and she’s just one of the best total packages out there.

That being said, in anyone’s music career the Third album is (in my opinion) the MOST important album, Especially for someone as huge as she is. And it shows on “I Am…”, her third album in stores on November 18th, that Beyoncé understood the importance and took her time. The album is split into two discs, and the first “I Am… Beyoncé” is Amazing. It’s obvious she was going for a more mainstream Pop vibe with this side, and even though it’s a pretty calculated move the songs are instant classics. First single “If I were a Boy” is a perfect taste of what you’ll get on the album. That song is almost a bit of a Rock/Pop anthem which fits well into the Top40 Sound of today, but obviously has inspiration from an 80’s Adult Contemporary sound, this song reminds me of the 80’s pop duo Heart, while “Smash into You” and “Satellites” (two amazingly great songs) have a bit of a Genesis/U2 vibe to them while still staying contemporary. The excellent production value and the writing on this half of the album almost overshadow Beyoncé, but only Almost. Like on the second single “Halo“, an excellent peice of lyricism (Thanks to Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic and writer and producer of Leona Lewis‘ “Bleeding Love”) and a great track, but Ms. B’s vocals are so strong she makes you feel the power in the words…

I swore I’d never fall again

but this don’t even feel like falling

gravity can’t begin

to pull me back to the ground again.

And now that brings us to the second disc, one “I Am… Sasha Fierce”. This is supposed to be the upbeat “sassy” side of Beyoncé. It’s really her Stage persona, but if we’re being honest Sasha Fierce peaked on the last album “B’Day” (in the studio that is, Sasha Fierce still KILLS Everybody on stage!!) . The vocals were so strong and the lyrics were so attitude filled, unlike alot of the stuff on this rather disapointing side of this new album. I guess there is some sass on this side, just laid over some pretty boring tracks. “Ego” is supposed to be released as a single and it’s a nice track with a nice hook but the lyrics need some work. (Although i do tolerate most of the song to hear her cuss Finally…

Ego so big

you must admit

I got every reason to feel

like I’m That Bitch.

Yeah B, you are)

However it seems like she got real lazy on this half of the disc. The creative vocal workouts are gone, the interesting lyrics are gone, even the tracks on here are underwhelming. They almost feel like she didn’t really put much thought or effort into alot of these songs. I mean listen to the first Urban single “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it)” without seeing the awesome video it’s just “Get Me Bodied” part two. And i won’t even get into “Diva”, her female answer to “A Milli” (i’ma a Diva i’ma i’ma a Diva. Diva is the female version of a hustla) which could have been pretty good but the song definitley lacks something. Alot actually.

There are some really great standouts on this half though. “Hello” is a sweet upbeat love song about Jay. Very addictive hook and just a great total production, vocals included. And “Radio” is a bit of Change for her style, it’s a Europop club track and she brings a real Urban vocal style to it. This album seems to be intended to cross her over into a true International star and this would do huge in other countries. As well as “Sweet Dreams”, which most of us Stans were playing all year when we thought it was titled “Beautiful Nitemare”. Another club offering that will do big on the other side of the pond.

All in all, Beyoncé went to work. At least on reforming her image as a International Pop Star with huge classic anthems. However she took so many steps forward on the first half of this album, and so many steps back on the bottom half. Anyhow, we’ll see you on Tour Ms. Sasha.

On a side note, Jim Jonsin is doing his thing this year. I’m glad he got a chance to show his diversity on this and former DC3er Michelle Williams’ albums. For me Jim Jonsin is THE producer to watch for next year. And one of my favorite producers Mr. Bangladesh who has been floating under the radar for Years (but finally has some major exposure this year because of “A Milli”) also came to work. Although “Diva” does sound almost exactly like “A Milli” (and also Kelis‘ “Aww Shit!!“) his production of “Video Phone” is f’ing awesome

I am So Late.
Being Unemployed now, I wanted to really start trying to do weekly blogs. Maybe bi-weekly. And I meant to post this Blog about two weeks ago… but have just been really lazy. That being said, I want to get this out for Monday… because Monday is going to be my Official New Blog date.
So now that that’s all cleared up, here we go…

Firstly, the album I’ve been Dying to write about… Yeezy’s new one. Now the song “Amazing” is the best way to describe both Kanye Wests 4th album just released November 25th “808s and Heartbreak“, and Kanye west himself.

I’m a monster I’m a maven I know this world is changin’

Never gave in Never gave up I’m the only thing I’m afraid of

No matter what You’ll never take that from me My reign is as far as your eyes can see

It’s amazin’So amazin’

Speaking about the artist first, he’s definitely drives in his own lane and always has. He has always gone slightly left from everybody else in both Hip Hop and just Music in general, especially on his Second album “Late registration”, but still making his stuff mainstream enough for it not to be ignored on the charts. With this album though, he seems to be driving on an entirely different Highway than everybody else. And some of the creative calls he made on this album truly (imo) present him as a genuine Artists, the likes of which we haven’t seen probably in a decade. For instance, the longer than 3 minute instrumental looping at the end of album opener “Say You Will” track, or the minimal lyrics on the also Amazing “Street Lights”. The tracks in themselves also take music to new grounds. He seems to have cultivated a Perfect blend of real late 90’s Electronica, Hip Hop and Mainstream Pop classics, and normally trying to hybrid too many styles ends up a mess and this works seamlessly. Because he’s a genius. One complaint about the album is that he seems to be talking about the same thing on every song. However that complaint also sort of proves what a great artist he is, this album was obviously motivated by his emotions at the time and a way to vent to get over the Heartbreak. And not only lyrically, but vocally (and yes he does sing most of the songs… but not in the way where he’s trying to become the next John Legend. More of just a melodic way to get his lyrics across) you can feel the pain, like when he screams “I won’t EVER Love again… Never again” on the albums BEST track “Coldest Winter” you really really feel it. This is truly my album of the Year. Kanye has Yet to disapoint.

However, Britney disapoints me all the time. She had a trio of live televised performances within the past few days… and let’s just say she’s no longer the Dynamic Live Performer fans Claimed her to be. Which is truly disapointing because before those performances I did get to listen to her new (now 6th album) “Circus” being released Tuesday and I don’t hate it. Her last album “Blackout” released in the midst of her “Crazy Bitch” phase, was Fun but very One-Note and Britney was barely there. Her vocals were totally vocoded and there was just no life behind the lyrics. “Circus” fortunately does bring her voice more to the forefront, and while there are an awful lot of “Blackout”-like Dance cuts, on the whole is alot more diverse and somewhat similar to her Best album 2002’s “In the Zone”. The standout cut on this album is “Unusual You” which may just be the best song she’s ever recorded. It really is a beautiful song, lyrically production wise and her vocals do really set the song off. The next really great track is the Addicting Max Martin production “If U Seek Amy”, which suceeds in being that Guilty Pleasure song that actually eclipses Katy Perry’s trio of addictive singles put out this year. And it’s such a “naughty” little hook that’s so much fun to sing a long to…

… The album actually shows a little progression in Britney’s stifled career and is actually a pretty good (stay clear of “Kill the Lights” and “My Baby” – but Do check out “Out from Under”) listen. She just needs to work round the clock on delivering an Awesome performance one of these days or this album is gonna tank Hard!

I was also surprised that T-Pain‘s third album “Thr33 Ringz” didn’t completely suck. It’s really just a Fun, Funny album. You dont really expect anything of much substance from a dude who could deliver such a hilarious lyric like…

… but a line like that is really Fun to sing and he has alot of stuff like that on here. I think what he was trying to accomplish was pulling off a great Album instead of just another vehicle for a few singles to be plucked from. He does try to get diverse on us, with the truly Hardcore Hip Hop (Karaoke with Dj Khaled) and some straight up R&B (Reality Show with Musiq Soulchild and Raheem Devaughn). He even tries (and fails in my opinion) to do a bit of a Message song with Mary J Blige, Diddy and Akon in the form of “Change”. He doesn’t totally fail with this album, none of the songs are Unbearable, but he’s showing that he’s a bit more than just the Auto Tune dude. All that being said, this album basically comes down to 5 great songs. The singles “Cant believe it” with Lil Wayne, “Chopped and Skrewed” with Ludacris and three great album cuts “Blowing up” with Ciara “It aint me” with an amazing verse from T.I. and “Therapy” with Kanye. I think you can get away with just those 5.

And while we were speaking, kind of, about Disapointments I have to say The Killers have (at this moment) disapointed me. Their third proper album “Day and Age” was released the same day as Kanye. And maybe being so blown away by that album set my expectations higher for the Killers. I mean, they are my favourite Rock/Alternative group for the past few years and add that they hooked up with one of my Favourite EuroDance producers Stuart Price I expected to listen to what I assumed would be the Greatest album of the Year. However, when i first listened to it, i felt like i was listening to some weird 80’s compilation. I heard a bit of Paul Simon, Huey Lewis, Hall and Oates and even Madonna in there. I’ve only listened to the album once since than, and it did sound better the second time around so maybe i should just save the Definitive review for a few weeks and see where how much, if at all, it has grown on me. “Neon Tiger” and “Goodnight, Travel Well” are pretty Great songs though as are the two singles “Spaceman” and “Human”.

December 3, 2008 – Wednesday

Grammy Predictions
Current mood: optimisticCategory: Music

The Grammy nominations will be announced Tonight. They are making a big Television special out of the nominees, seems pretty lame to me, but the Grammy nominations actually do excite me. This year should be really surprising. I’ve actually been listening to older music this year so I’ve been somewhat out of the loop of today’s music (besides it generally sucks so bad can you blame me). I mean I’ve JUST discovered a couple of acts (keep reading) that had their buzz brewing since the Beginning of the year. So obviously if i made some predictions I’d probably be all wrong, but I do have some Hopes for nominees … artists and songs that i think actually Deserve nominations. So here we go.

I had this feeling in the summer when M.I.A.‘s “Paper Planes” song became so Huge in the US, that they might actually put this up for Record of the Year. And not only because the song is amazing, also because M.I.A. has been getting a Huge critical reception since her 2005 debut album “Arular” and she has yet to be nominated for a Grammy or any other American award for that matter. The Grammy committee loves to Look like they are young, fresh, and worldly and that’s M.I.A. and that’s Paper Planes. On top of that, she actually was set to Retire this year (which she has since retracted thanks to this song). She’s not a new artist but she’s a critical and media favorite who attained that commercial success this year and Grammy’s tend to award that. I wouldn’t be surprised if she got a couple of nominations. They’ll either put her in Urban/Alternative Performace or Dance recording. They might actually put her up for Hip Hop Performance Female which would be Smart because she would have virtually NO competition.

I’m just gonna say Rihanna needs to win Dance recording for “Disturbia“. However, the dance category is probably going to be filled up with MGMT, Lady Gaga, Ting Tings, Madonna, Janet. Plus they generally tend to have a bunch of respected House DJ’s and Electro heads in this category as opposed to pop stars. They’ll probably put her up for R&B Song and R&B Vocal Female for “Take a Bow“.

Jason Mraz should be nominated and Win Pop Vocal, Male for “I’m Yours“. And I’m guessing Sara Bareilles (“Love Song“) and Colbie Callait (“Bubbly“) will be in the running for Pop Vocal Female. However the obvious Winner in that category is going to be Leona Lewis who I predict will be a Grammy favorite this year. I see her getting this award for “Bleeding Love“. And she’ll definitley be in the running for New Artist which i was sure she would win a few months ago but she’s going to have to fend off other Critical favorites Adele, Vampire Weekend, MGMT, Ray Lamontagne and Estelle. By the way, put money on Adele for “Chasing Pavement” in that Pop Vocal Female category.

I really can’t call who I think will be the lead nominees or even the Album of the Year category. Last year, (when the Grammy telecast turned into “The Amy Winehouse Show” – still mad at that.) the nominees almost mirrored the Billboard top Albums and Singles, giving the impression that Grammy voters only voted for stuff that they heard on Top 40 Radio, and this year might just be the same. Having said that, Coldplay would probably get the most nods. Their album “Viva La Vida” got some of the best reviews this year and sold through the roof. Plus the Grammy’s already LOVE Coldplay, this could be the year when they truly become U2. I’d definitley put money on them for Album of the Year and since they are favorites one of their songs (don’t ask me which) should be in Record and Song of the Year as well. Also if we’re looking at chart dominance you might even see Lil Wayne up for Album of the Year for “Tha Carter III”, if not he’s definitley going to sweep practically All of the Hip Hop categories (Rap Album, Rap Song, Rap Solo, Rap Solo Male, Rap Performance Duo or Group, Rap/Sung Collab, ) and I don’t see why he wouldn’t Win all of those awards to be honest.
If we’re looking critically, you might see Vampire Weekend, Portishead, The Black Keys, The Racounters, Ray Lamontagne, Robyn and MGMT in the mix in the big 4 categories. I would also count in Raphael Saadiq, Beck, The-Dream, Ne-Yo, Gnarls Barkley, Panic at the Disco, Mary J. Blige, Keyshia Cole, and even Katy Perry for a nod or two.

So, let’s see how well I do.

December 9, 2008 – Tuesday

Grammy Noms, Brandy, Common, Akon … Week in Music
Current mood: impatientCategory: Music

Yeah Yeah Yeah, it’s Tuesday. I was supposed to post this yesterday… but whatever, nobody reads my blog. So just one day late isn’t going to kill… Anybody.

Now let’s first talk about how Awesome I am, and how good I was at predicting the Grammy nominations. Lil Wayne actually came out the leader in nominations with 8, and I really can’t say I’m surprised. His album sold through the roof this year, and Grammy’s just couldn’t ignore him. What’s even more awesome, is he was nominated for every single thing I predicted last week:

Also if we’re looking at chart dominance you might even see Lil Wayne
up for Album of the Year for “Tha Carter III”, if not he’s definitley
going to sweep practically All of the Hip Hop categories (Rap Album,
Rap Song, Rap Solo, Rap Solo Male, Rap Performance Duo or Group,
Rap/Sung Collab, ) and I don’t see why he wouldn’t Win all of those
awards to be honest.

7 of his nominations came straight from the Rap categories (Rap Album, Rap Solo for “A Milli”, Rap Performance Duo or Group twice for “Mr. Carter” and “Swagga Like Us”, Rap/Sung Collab for “Got Money” and Rap Song twice for “Lollipop” and “Swagga Like Us”) his eighth nomination came for Album of the Year. So I did pretty good there. Coldplay trailed Weezy with 7 nominations, and as you can see I was pretty spot on with those predictions as well:

Coldplay would probably get the
most nods. Their album “Viva La Vida” got some of the best reviews this
year and sold through the roof. Plus the Grammy’s already LOVE
Coldplay, this could be the year when they truly become U2. I’d
definitley put money on them for Album of the Year and since they are
favorites one of their songs (don’t ask me which) should be in Record
and Song of the Year as well.

They are up for Album of the Year, as well as Record and Song of the Year plus Pop Performance Duo or Groupfor “Viva la Vida”, Rock Song and Rock Performance Duo or Group for “Violet Hill”, and Rock Album.
Outside of the lead nominees I definitley called a few other nominations… “Paper Planes” by M.I.A. for Record of the Year. Adele and Sara Bareilles for Pop Vocal Female (additionally Adele surprised me and got Record of the Year and Song of the Year for her song). Jason Mraz competing in Pop Vocal Male for “I’m Yours” (also nominated for Song of the Year). Rihanna‘s “Disturbia” up for Dance Recording, and Leona Lewis for Pop Vocal Female for “Bleeding Love” (also nominated for Record of the Year).
Which leads us to my biggest surprises or Snubs of the year. The most glaring snub was Leona Lewis in the New Artist category. I mean seriously… The Jonas Brothers and Jazmine Sullivan over her? The-Dream not getting ANY nominations for his superior “Love/Hate” album and singles (while J. Holiday – whose only hit “Bed” was written by The-Dream – is up for Contemporary R&B Album of the Year? Did anybody even listen to that album?). And i’m not entirely surprised by the snubs of Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey, but given this years nominees they should have found themselves in at least two or three categories (especially Janet, who should have been up for Dance Recording with “Rock With You” or “Feedback”). I was really surprised that MGMT or Vampire Weekend weren’t mentioned at all.
And I guess I should talk about the welcome surprises. Ne-Yo , Album of the Year? Again, I felt like The-Dream and even Raphael Saadiq‘s albums were better but I was proud to see Ne-Yo up there. Keyshia Cole stormed through the R&B categories with “Heaven Sent” and I really believe she should win, that was one of the Few TRUE R&B Singles out this year. I was really happy to see Robyn up for Dance/Electronic Album as well as Beck and Gnarls Barkley competing for Alternative Album. Also Very happy to see the producer of both of those albums (as well as the Snubbed Black Keys) Danger Mouse up for Producer of the Year (He should win it).
In a couple of weeks I’ll post my predictions for Winners and see how I do. The awards will be telecast sometime in early February (really close to my Birthday… hint hint)

On to some new releases that might (but probably won’t) be up for Next Years Grammy nominations. Released last Tuesday was Akon‘s now third album “Freedom” and it’s set to debut in the top 5 albums this week. And if you’re a fan of the albums first single “Right Now (Na Na Na)” than you’ll most likely dig this album on the whole. Akon is a pretty talented producer and writer (I mean if you can put a song together that’s good enough to not be totally irritated by his voice than he’s doing Something right) but this album isn’t anything revoultionary. It’s actually a bit dated in certain respects, if this album came out last year I would have liked it alot better. It just relies a little too much on the electro-pop sound that’s been inundating the radio for the past two years, although songs like “Keep You Much Longer” and “Beautiful”, which features Colby O’Donis and Kardinal Offishall, are a little above average and do fit into that sound really well. Akon does try to diversify this album a bit, which makes the album not a total dud. The albums follow up singles “I’m So Paid” and “Holla Holla” are standouts, as are “Against the Grain” (featuring Ray Lavender — Nice Voice) and “Be With You“. The rest, well I have to admit that I kept thinking “when is this song going to be Over” a few times. For Akon though this is his most solid album to date. And it’s alot better than I expected.

Meanwhile, Brandy‘s 5th album “Human” hits stores today, and it’s a little weaker than I expected. I have always given Brandy praise for getting better with each album. However “Human” isn’t better than her previous (damn near Masterpeice) “Afrodisiac”, while that album was alot more mature and real, this album seems to cater to a Younger Poppier crowd with some pretty generic lyrics and concepts. I mean her answer to the World’s problems is to “Warm it Up (With Love)”, she talks about how her man is the “Definition of Love”, and the title track she sings “I’m only Human, Forgive me… I’m only Human, Love me”. None of those songs are awful, but given all that Brandy has been through since the release of the last album, you’d think she’d sing something a little more personal and heartfelt instead of Any-Artist-Pop-Songs. There are some moments of genius on this album though and they mostly come in the form of ballads along the line of her past hits “Have You Ever” and “He Is”. The albums second single “Long Distance” (which also suffers from very generic lyrics “You know right now I can’t be home, but I’m coming home soon”) just sounds like an instant Classic, and even better is “True” which wins on all levels (Lyrics, Production, Vocals) and even that song gets eclipsed by the “Acapella” of “Something’s Missing” which is a very fresh and original arrangement. Vocally, Brandy has always been very underrated and her voice has just grown leaps and bounds with every album. And on top of the growth, she’s a very creative vocalist and that is one of the things that is clearly displayed on this album. I would recommend the album though, even though it’s pretty Generic, there is alot on here that most people will relate to and again Brandy came to work vocally on this album. However, if you go to the store to buy this album and you don’t have “Afrodisiac” or the 3rd album “Full Moon”, do yourself a favor and pick both of them up.

Finally, also being released today, is Common‘s “Universal Mind Control”. The album was initially supposed to be released this summer under the title “Invincible Summer”. Than news came that Common only intended to do an EP for that title and put together a full album due in November. Knowing that, I can understand some of the inconsistency on this album. Even with that one complaint, this really is one of the better albums this year. Firstly, I have to say that I’m loving the fact that Pharrell is back, he really impressed me earlier this year with the stuff he did for Madonna’s album and now on Common’s album (which he produced 7 of the 10 tracks) he gives you a taste of why we loved the Neptunes in the first place (the club banger “Sex 4 Suga”, the laid back old school “Announcement”) and a taste of where he’s headed (the albums best track “What A World” featuring Chester French). A producer by the name of Mr DJ takes the reigns for the remaining 3 tracks and from the sounds of it (“Make My Day” featuring Cee-Lo, and “Everywhere” featuring Martina Topley-Bird which are two of the more superior tracks) he might be here to stay. Aside from the production, Common does bring something to this album (which yeah, it could have been just as good if it was all instrumental). Common commented on the album earlier this year and said that it was supposed to be a bit of a throwback dance Hip Hop album and he does bring very old school 80’s Rap flows very nicely to the very futuristic tracks, which are best displayed on the aforementioned “Make my Day”, which has him telling a Story in the same vein as Slick Rick and “What a World”. I’d definitley recommend this album, it’s not the classic that his last album “Finding Forever” was (which if you don’t have it, Buy it… Excellent Kanye and Will.I.Am productions), but at least it’s different and in this late stage of Common’s career it’s good to see he’s getting a little more Fearless with his music.

December 25, 2008 – Thursday

Best of 2008
Current mood: drunkCategory: Music

Merry Christmas to all my adoring fans.

Right!

Anyhow I have my lists of best albums and singles of 2008, and I meant to write a blurb about each album/song. However, it’s Christmas and I’m at my Grandma’s house and I guess I should enjoy the Holiday instead of blogging unnecessarily. I just thought I should post something… it’s been about three weeks since my DSL at home was shut off and I’ve missed some entries… so here is the most important entry of the year.

So I’ll just list my favorites now, and maybe one day at the library I’ll fill in my critiques about each ranking.

The Grammy’s were Sunday night and I probably should have written something either Sunday night or Monday, I’ve been kind of busy at work and starting this Spring semester. And on top of that I unfortunately missed a good chunk of the telecast. When I finally actually remembered it was on, Jamie Foxx was performing. Having missed all of my favorite artists performances I watched the rest on Mute.

So what I’ll be doing here is just to Gloat on how close I was with my predictions and just talk about the wins.

First let’s talk about Me, (and by the way, i advertised the Mess out of my Grammy prediction blog on Twitter, and only one comment. I Love comments, so if you happen to be reading my blog now or in the future, don’t be afraid to leave a comment) of the 20 categories I ventured to make predictions on, I got 11 of them correct and only 8 wrong. I got a half point for the biggest surprise of the night Album of the Year, I said Dave Matthews Band “Will Win” (they didn’t) but I said Taylor Swift “Should Win” (she did).

Here’s a quick rundown of the predictions I got right:

New Artist – Zac Brown Band (Only because I don’t see any other act winning)Female Pop Vocal Performance – Beyoncé “Halo” (A Heartfelt Emotional and Intense vocal on a really popular song)Male Pop Vocal Performance – Jason Mraz “Make it Mine” (Sometimes Grammy’s give an artist an award one year because they lost the previous year. Mraz should have gotten Grammy gold for his now Record Breaking hit “I’m Yours” but went home empty handed. This award might be his redemption.)Pop Vocal Album – Black Eyed Peas “The E.N.D.” (this may be their category)Dance Recording – Lady GaGa “Poker Face” (If she only gets one award on Sunday, this will be it. It has her name written all over it.)

Rock Performance, Duo or Group – Kings of Leon “Use Somebody” (No Brainer. I talked them up for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, so there’s no reason they can’t take this.)Female R&B Vocal Performance – Beyoncé “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” (I don’t think Mrs. Carter has anything to worry about here.)Male R&B Vocal Performance – Maxwell “Pretty Wings” (Another No Brainer... nobody else even comes close.)R&B Album – Maxwell “Blacksummers’night” (His first album in 8 years, it debuts at #1 and has a #1 single. No way he won’t win.)Contemporary R&B Album – Beyoncé “I Am… Sasha Fierce” (Although I consider this album a POP album, this should be the clear winner.)Rap Album – Eminem “Relapse” (His album was a major disappointment, but in this race he’s the most popular and most successful name. So unfortunately this goes to him.)

and here’s what I got wrong:

Record of the Year – Kings of Leon “Use Somebody”(in my defense: Kings of Leon have a really great shot at winning both of these awards for “Use Somebody”)Song of the Year – Beyoncé “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”Electronica/Dance Album – Lady GaGa “The Fame” (GaGa is their biggest competition)Rock Song – Kings of Leon “Use Somebody”Alternative Album – Phoenix “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix” (I was so extremely happy to see Phoenix and Yeah Yeah Yeah’s nominated in this category… Although I ranked Phoenix higher)R&B Song – Beyoncé “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”Rap Solo Performance – Jay-Z “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)”Rap Song – Jay-Z “Run This Town” (Note: i picked Jay-Z for “Should Have Won” just the wrong song… I actually have no idea who is the favorite here. I could say Jay-Z cancels himself out, but “Run this Town” was a pretty big hit for him and he’s bound to win at least one award on Sunday)

Although I didn’t have a perfect score, I got more than half of my predictions right (but with a 57.5% average, I most certainly would have failed if this was a test) and I’m totally Not surprised by the actual wins. Well a few. Since I had predicted it, I wasn’t shocked by Taylor Swift’s Album of the Year win. Like I said she’s had a great run this past year, and she’s like America’s Sweetheart of the moment. And in the absence of any real Legendary artists, it was a pretty open race to begin with. I predicted Dave Matthews Band would take that award, but surprisingly enough they lost both of their two nominations for the album.

My predictions for Kings of Leon were pretty spot on though. I actually gave them Song of the Year and not Record of the Year, so I was a little backwards there. They triumphed over Lady GaGa for Record of the Year with “Use Somebody”, but Beyoncé took the Song of the Year prize. That actually surprised me, I honestly didn’t think the songs popularity would translate into a Songwriting award. However, Kings of Leon ended up winning three awards total and I predicted they’d win two of the three.

Jay-Z‘s wins were a little surprising to me. Well not his, Rihanna and Kanye West‘s win for Rap/Sung Collaboration for “Run This Town”, but his dominance in every rap category outside of Album (his “Blueprint3” missed the cut off date for nominations, expect it to be nominated next year). He snatched up Rap Solo Performance and Rap Song from newbies Drake and Kid Cudi, who I predicted would win. For Rap Album, I was actually hoping I wasn’t right but Eminem‘s mediocre album won anyway. (I will say that “Crack a Bottle”, featuring 50 Cent and Dr. Dre, which won for Rap Performance Duo or Group DID deserve the win it got)

I wanted to point out how happy I am that Phoenix won for Alternative Album. I was certain that award would go to Brian Eno and David Byrne because of their legendary status. I feared that Phoenix was still clinging to the “underground” crowd too much for the more mainstream Grammy voters to give them the prize. They managed to scoop up the very deserved trophy though. The only other win that I was really surprised by was the R&B Song race. Beyoncé triumphed over Maxwell in this category, and I personally don’t think it’s right. I said it over and over on the last blog post, “Pretty Wings” was almost the epitome of an R&B song whereas “Single Ladies” was more or less a catchy Club song. And I also disagree with the win for Short Form Video to Black Eyed Peas‘ “Boom Boom Pow”. I bought the video from iTunes, so it is a great video. Not better (in my opinion) than Coldplay‘s weird but hilarious “Life in Technicolor ii”.

So that’s the extent of my complaints about the winners. As I said before, I didn’t actually see the telecast but I did catch a few of the performances on Youtube. I watched Lady GaGa, prior to the ceremony it was announced that her and Elton John would perform together. She opened the show with “Poker Face” and than her and John sat at a double-sided piano, which was adorned with severed limbs, and belted out a mix of GaGa’s “Speechless” and John’s classic “Your Song”. A Good performance, not as groundbreaking or forward thinking as some of her previous outings but still one of the best of the night.

Upon hearing that Beyoncé broke the record for most wins by a female in a single night, I had to go onto her board and Gloat to all the haters. And on the boards people were talking, glowingly, about Pink’s performance. She performed “Glitter in the Air” from her nominated album “Funhouse”. The performance started off simple with her just walking and stripping on the stage, than she attached herself to a massive piece of cloth and started her now too familiar Trapeze act. Sure she did practically the same thing on the 09 VMA’s (and on her tour DVD from 2007), but it was slightly different in that she ended the performance with water dripping off of her. I was personally not impressed.

I also wasn’t very impressed with Beyoncé’s performance of “If I Were a Boy”. She sounded okay, but I just really don’t like the live arrangement of that song with Alanis Morrissette’s hit “You Oughta Know” attached. And the way she changed the lyrics to the first verse made the performance feel like a medley of three songs. Not her best, but still pretty solid I suppose.

And of course as I mentioned before I caught a glimpse of Jamie Foxx. His backing track was at a seriously loud volume to drown out his voice, the only way I could tell he was actually singing was due to some glitch with the sound system where you could faintly hear vocals coming from his mic randomly. He brought a bunch of other people on stage, but I muted his performance almost as soon as I turned it on. There were countless performances, but really GaGa, Beyoncé and Pink were the only ones I even cared to watch.

The biggest night in music, and as always I’m definitely interested to see who picks up one of those beloved trophies. The nominations came out at the end of 2009, and they were pretty odd. Grammy has steadily been trying to change their image over the past 10 years, so it’s become less about a critical success, or even just honoring established artists. It seems that the Grammy’s are more about who has sold the most and who is more popular overall. Hence the Album of the Year race, which (imo) is one of the weakest in Grammy history. There are also some very odd happenings in the races for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and New Artist. And certain artists seem to be misplaced, for instance Black Eyed Peas nominated for Pop Album and not Dance album. The nominations are very odd, but like I do every year I’m going to try to make sense of all the nominees and make some sound predictions and Hope that I can maintain my near-flawless record.

There have been some very questionable Albums up for this award in recent history, but they always lose out to classic artists (Robert Plant and Alison Krauss last year, Herbie Hancock in 2008 and Ray Charles in 2005). This year, the only act you can consider Classic is Dave Matthews Band. And for that reason I think they will win. Though when I look at Metacritic, the album got a really average rating. The album was a #1 hit and managed to sell a million copies, but I’m not quite sure it’s their year. Black Eyed Peas and Lady GaGa are pretty much out of this race, and I would say the same about Beyoncé and Taylor Swift. These four acts and their music are too young and contemporary for older members to vote for them. However both Taylor and Beyoncé have a shot because they are both insanely popular and well-respected in the industry. This is a hard call, but…

Will Win: Dave Matthews Band. Classic and well -respected band. Enough said

Should Win: Taylor Swift. And I’ve not heard this album, but she writes her own songs and was a huge phenomenon this year and she’s only 17. Though what’s going to hurt her most in this category is the fact she’ll most likely sweep all the Country categories she’s up for.

Lady GaGa, Poker FaceMaxwell, Pretty WingsBeyoncé, Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)Kings of Leon, Use SomebodyTaylor Swift, You Belong with Me

Even though I think it’s one of their worst songs, Kings of Leon have a really great shot at winning both of these awards for “Use Somebody”. They emerged as the Hot Rock Group of the year thanks to their far superior single “Sex of Fire” (and last years Grammy winner for best Rock Vocal, Duo or Group). “Use Somebody” became their first Top 5 US Hit, and completely assaulted Pop radio this summer. I wouldn’t be surprised, and I wouldn’t even mind if they won both of these categories. They’ve been working hard and it took them their fourth album to successfully cross over to the mainstream.

However, “Poker Face” and “Single Ladies” were HUGE this past year. And this is where things get odd. Generally Record of the Year goes to the song that was most popular that year, and Song of the Year goes to the more critically lauded single. “Single Ladies” would have been a natural in the Record of the Year race, but it’s not there and lyrically, I don’t think the song was as critically acclaimed so it will probably lose the Song of the Year race. Which leaves “Poker Face”, nominated in both categories. This addictive hit basically put GaGa on the map, so for that reason I think it has a good shot at Record of the Year.

Record of the Year
Will Win: Lady GaGa. Insanely popular and catchy, a natural for the category.
Should Win: Black Eyed Peas. Guetta’s production and the Peas’ energetic delivery make this song a clear 10.

Song of the Year
Will Win: Kings of Leon. An inspirational A/C leaning Rock Ballad. Total Grammy bait.

Should Win: Maxwell. This is probably the best and most authentic R&B song in a long while, plus Maxwell’s gotta win something this year.

New Artist:

Zac Brown BandKeri HilsonMGMTSilversun PickupsThe Ting TingsAlso very odd. This category is always odd though. Like when Lauryn Hill was nominated and won in 1998, although she had previously won multiple Grammy’s as a member of Fugees. And this year we have Lady GaGa out of the running because she was nominated for a Grammy last year, but MGMT and Ting Tings who released their debuts in 2008 are up for new artists this year. And worst than that Silversun Pickups released their first album 4 years ago. Very Very odd, but I think this race comes down to Silversun Pickups and Zac Brown Band, the two acts I know the least about. I do know that the Zac Brown Band are the only country acts up for the award. In the past 10 years only one country act has won this award (Carrie Underwood in 2007), but this race is so wide open it might go to the most popular act and Zac Brown Band might be that act, with over a million in sales and a #1 Country single.

Will Win: Zac Brown Band. Only because I don’t see any other act winning.

Should Win: MGMT. “Oracular Spectacular” was one of the most talked about and critically acclaimed albums of that year. And more important than that, they brought a fresh new sound more so than anybody else nominated.

Off the top we can cancel out Katy Perry and Taylor Swift. Their nominated singles are no doubt fun, but not in the same league vocally as the rest. Pink has a good shot, but Beyoncé will probably take this one home.

Will Win: Beyoncé. A Heartfelt Emotional and Intense vocal on a really popular song.
Should Win: Adele. Because this song is one of the best vocal performances of the decade.

Male Pop Vocal Performance:

John Legend, This TimeMaxwell, Love YouJason Mraz, Make it MineSeal, If You Don’t Know Me By NowStevie Wonder, All About the Love Again

Will Win: Jason Mraz. Sometimes Grammy’s give an artist an award one year because they lost the previous year. Mraz should have gotten Grammy gold for his now Record Breaking hit “I’m Yours” but went home empty handed. This award might be his redemption.
Should Win: John Legend. Just for an amazing song which is pretty much the definition of this category.

Will Win: Black Eyed Peas or Colbie Caillat. Even though they were one of the nominee leaders, I don’t see Black Eyed Peas winning a bunch of awards this year. So this may be their category. Although Caillat is becoming a rising star in the pop world, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she pulled the win on this one.
Should Win: Pink. Only because I consider “The E.N.D.” to be more of a Dance album, while “Funhouse” is a really good mix of different Pop sounds.

Will Win: Lady GaGa. If she only gets one award on Sunday, this will be it. It has her name written all over it. Her only real competition is the equally successful “Boom Boom Pow”.
Should Win: Madonna. Since “Sexy Bitch” by Guetta and Akon isn’t in the running, this song is the only one with a straight up and genuine Dance sound. And it’s one of her best singles in years.

Will Win: Pet Shop Boys. Only because they are Classic artists, and classic artists in this specific genre too. GaGa is their biggest competition, but I think they have a really good chance here.
Should Win: David Guetta. For getting some really top name acts, and giving them some real dance music to sing over.

Will Win: Kings of Leon. No Brainer. I talked them up for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, so there’s no reason they can’t take this.

Should Win: Green Day. Because I’m not going to give the award to a Live recording (Clapton and Winwood) or a Remix (Coldplay) or a song from an album that completely sucked (U2). And this song is another instant classic like their Record of the Year winning “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”.

Rock Song:

Pearl Jam, The FixerU2, I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy TonightGreen Day, 21 GunsKings of Leon, Use SomebodyBruce Springsteen, Working on a Dream

Will Win: I would say Kings of Leon, but Bruce Springsteen has won this award Two years in a row (and Four times total) and it looks likely that he’ll win for a third.
Should Win: Green Day. See previous category.

I was so extremely happy to see Phoenix and Yeah Yeah Yeah’s nominated in this category. They are two very worthy competitors (and my #3 and #6 Top Albums of 2009), but unfortunately I feel like they are going to lose out.

Will Win: David Byrne & Brian Eno. Simply because they really are the orchestrators of the Alternative (back than No-Wave and New Wave) sound. In fact, I’m 100% sure all of the acts nominated were heavily influenced by either Byrne or Eno at some point in their careers.
Should Win: Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Although I ranked Phoenix higher, I think “It’s Blitz” is closer to the Alternative sound, and the production value is Loud, Punk and Rock but also very polished.

Will Win: No Brainer. Beyoncé. In fact it looks like they nominated lesser known acts and songs just so Beyoncé would have no problem winning this. Slight upset possibility with Melanie Fiona, but I don’t think Mrs. Carter has anything to worry about here.

Now first I want to get on a little tangent. Where is The-Dream!? And in fact where was he last year when J. Holiday’s inferior album “Back of my ‘Lac” (even the title sucks) was nominated in place of The-Dream’s “Love/Hate”. Can’t cry over spilled milk, but than this year comes along and The-Dream’s “Love vs Money” is excluded, but under performing and nearly forgotten T-Pain and Pleasure P (WHO?) are nominated instead. I don’t understand what they are doing, but it might be similar to the Female R&B Vocal where they are just giving this award away to Beyoncé.

Will Win: Beyoncé. Although I consider this album a POP album, this should be the clear winner.

Should Win: Beyoncé. Sure go ahead and give it to her. The only albums that could upset are Trey Songz and Jamie Foxx, but I doubt many voters would pass her over for these two guys.

Will Win: Drake. That was clearly the most popular song of the 5, and the rap categories are always less about the quality and more about who has the most recognizable name and which song was most memorable.

Should Win: Mos Def or Kid Cudi. “Casa Bey” might be too short of a song, but Mos Def’s flow on the song definitely trumps everybody else nominated. Cudi because his hit “Day n Nite” was the most different, it didn’t sound like a typical Hip Hop/Rap song. In fact, Cudi might be next in line to win.

Rap Song:

Drake, Best I Ever HadKid Cudi, Day n NiteT.I., Dead and GoneJay-Z, D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)Jay-Z, Run this Town

Will Win: I actually have no idea who is the favorite here. I could say Jay-Z cancels himself out, but “Run this Town” was a pretty big hit for him and he’s bound to win at least one award on Sunday. Cudi and Drake also have great chances of winning this. I’m gonna just take a wild guess and say Kid Cudi “Day n Nite” will take the prize.

Should Win: Jay-Z, D.O.A. This single marked a true return to form for Jigga. It’s agressive and hectic, and he’s actually saying something worthwhile. However, Cudi also Should win (now that I think of it, why wasn’t he nominated for best New Artist??)

Just like I was very happy to see Phoenix and Yeah Yeah Yeahs up for Alternative Album, I was VERY happy to see Mos Def Q-Tip and Common up in this category. Unfortunately they won’t win. All of those very classic and very original Hip Hop albums didn’t make any noise sales wise, or even singles wise. I just pray that Flo Rida doesn’t come in and get the Popularity vote (I doubt he will, he hasn’t been very relevant since “Right Round” finally fell off the charts after an impressive run.

Will Win: Eminem. His album was a major disappointment, but in this race he’s the most popular and most successful name. So unfortunately this goes to him.

Should Win: Q-Tip. Common and Mos put together some fantastic albums, but Q-Tip is the one that had the clearer message and the most consistent sequencing of material.

Alright that’s it. There’s like, 22 Million categories but these are the ones I feel I’m more qualified to have an opinion on. Looking through the nominations I did see a bunch of stuff I need to actually listen to. Maybe if I can listen to everything by Sunday my predictions may change. I doubt it though, the quality doesn’t really matter at the Grammy’s. And that’s not really a bad thing I suppose, The Grammy’s do mean a lot. They just basically mean your peers respect you, maybe just for one album or just one song, but I’m certain it means a lot to artists who were inspired by Music Legends and their peers. To be inspired by them, and than being awarded by them has to be Awesome.

So watch the Grammy’s on Sunday. Among the performers are Bon Jovi, Maxwell, Pink, Green Day, Lady Antebellum, Beyoncé. Mary J Blige and Andrea Boccelli are going to duet (Whoa!). And the obligatory Michael Jackson tribute performance, which I read somewhere was going to be in 3D (probably a terrible rumor). Most importantly, watch to see how Awesome I am at predicting the winners!

>I don’t really know how to sum up the Year in Music of 2009. If you went off the Billboard charts, this was a truly awful year for music. Formulaic, Generic, Dance hybrids with insanely annoying but catchy hooks were seemingly all you needed to hit #1 this year. On a good note, all the music released this year wasn’t awful. There were a few underrated gems, and a few deserved successes, so here is a quick recap of the best and worst of these past 12 months.

*Artist of the Year*

1. Michael Jackson

Typically, if an artist is able to move TWO MILLION units in one week, completely dominate the iTunes album singles and video charts, and open up a movie that grosses $200 million — they would undoubtedly become everyone’s Artist of the Year. Unfortunately it took Michael Jackson passing away for him to achieve all of this since June of this year. However A lot of the younger generation, who grew up around the time his star was being trampled on by the media, were able to appreciate his music really for the first time and sort of got to re-discover him as a new artist.

2. Beyonce
3. Lady GaGa

*Biggest Flop of the Year, or the Try again next time award*:
Awarded to the artist who this year had a less than successful run on the charts, but the talent and the drive is still there enough for us to not underestimate them in the long run. Even the greatest have flops, so chin up and come back harder next time. You can do it.

1. Ciara
2. Leona Lewis
3. Jordin Sparks

*New Artist of the Year*

1. Lady GaGa

Lady GaGa might officially have been the new artist of last year since her debut “The Fame” was released in October 2008. However, 2009 is when Lady GaGa pretty much conquered the world and made a name for herself. Though the material on her album might not be the most inventive, she more than made up for that with some truly amazing performances. She did the New Artist thing right, she made sure she made headlines with her outlandish fashions. She had people talking about her before they even saw her perform, and that’s when she always managed to live up to the hype and deliver pretty flawless, and surprisingly strong singing and always some sort of arty-gimmick to keep viewers eyes on her at all times. She ended the year releasing a strong set of dance songs on an EP called “The Fame Monster” that showed some growth. A very strong year for GaGa, let’s see where she goes from here.

2. Drake
3. Kid Cudi

*Guilty Pleasure of the Year*:
Those songs that you KNOW are terrible from the first time you hear them, but for some reason — most likely due to radio saturation — you can’t escape the song and before you know it, you’re humming the melodies uncontrollably and sooner or later that awful song you made fun of at first is on your iPod and inching closer and closer to your Most Played.

1. The Ricky Bobby, “Do the Ricky Bobby” by B-Hamp
2. The Stanky Legg, “Stanky Legg” by GS Boyz
3. The Jerk, “You’re a Jerk” by New Boyz

*Best Comeback of the Year*

1. Britney Spears

Britney takes this crown, because her comeback was more true to what the term was originally intended to mean. She really made a true return to form. True, a return to form means more lips-ynching and mediocre dancing while being sexy. That’s what has gotten her this far, and it’s not hard to do. However anybody who has a TV, a computer, a radio, or access to any tabloid magazine knows that Britney’s chaotic story in 2007 after her divorce. She tried to, or more like Forced by her label, save her image with the album “Blackout” which was a surprisingly hot album. The problem was that she was completely whacked out, either psychologically and physically drained or on drugs and was obviously just not into it. With her late 2008 release “Circus” and it’s video she’s great, looking fresh and toned, attacking the (again mediocre) choreography, but the best was that she seemed “Present”. The album was actually above par, and very late in her US tour she delivered some knock out performances (of course still lip-synching). I don’t think she has much longer before time catches up with her body forever, and apparently she’s ready to release another album in 2010 and keep the streak going.

2. Kelly Clarkson

Kelly didn’t have any apparent drug or psychological problems to comeback from, but she did have a very nasty and public dispute with her label and label head Clive Davis over her last album “My December”. That album tanked, and Kelly was seriously in a critical situation with her career. She came back this year though, and with a huge record breaking #1 “My Life Would Suck Without You”. Her album sold decently, but another hurdle of massive weight gain (maybe that’s a little mean, I should say rapid weight gain) almost stopped her career dead in it’s tracks. However the Ryan Tedder production “Already Gone”, that she openly did not want as a single, is still doing really well on the singles charts and at the end of the year she’s garnered a Grammy nomination.

3. Whitney Houston

It seems like people have already forgot about Whitney’s big comeback, almost 6 years in the making. Grammy voters sure did. About 6 months ago, everybody was predicting Whitney would have one of the strongest comebacks in music history, and was sure to grab multiple music trophies just for coming back strong. The main problem was that she didn’t comeback strong, even though her “people” did a fantastic job of trying to fool everyone. Her album “I Look to You” was passable, if a little boring and ultimately forgettable. Her live performances were another story, though her voice has come along way since her last comeback in 2002, she literally can’t hold a note. And no amount of backup singers or extremely loud backing vocal tracks can hide it. That, and the Oprah interview that really didn’t show her in a flattering light. Though her album did sell pretty well, there are seemingly no plans for any follow up singles or anything else. This might be a wrap for Whitney.

*Artist that most needs to just Give it up this Year*: The greats are great forever, unless they don’t realize that they’re not the #1 stars they used to be and keep releasing material in hopes of dominating the music world, when in reality their mainstream relevance has been gone. These three artists still seem to think they can regain (and in one case achieve) Popular success, and they seriously need a wake up call before it’s too late.

1. Janet Jackson

Janet seems to be very likable in the mainstream, but the problem is nobody is buying her albums. 2008’s “Discipline” completely flopped, and the album before that “20 Y.O.” didn’t fair any better. She hasn’t had a #1 single since 2001’s “All For You”, and hasn’t managed even a Top 10 single since the second single from that album was released. And here she is in 2009, getting major sympathy points from the death of her brother. Has a highly publicized network television interview where they debut her new video “Make Me”, yet the song has made ZERO dents in the chart. Just give it up Janet. “Why Did I Get Married Too” is set to be released in early 2010, and that might just be her new medium to attack, Acting. I think it’s time to step away from the studio because, hell she doesn’t even have a contract right now.

2. Mario

Mario has never been The One! He’s never had any real stretch of time as the reigning R&B singer. When he first came out, he was basically the younger Usher with braids. He had a hit, but this was during one of Usher’s several dominant periods of R&B. When Mario’s second album was released, he managed to score a big hit out of “Let Me Love You”, but somehow that songs writer Ne-Yo ended up eclipsing him. 2007’s “Go!” was a great album for Mario, but than he had both Ne-Yo and pre-battery charge Chris Brown owning him on the charts. And now, when he probably thought it was safe to release his 4th album “D.N.A.”, Trey Songz is completely owning him as the new young R&B Heartthrob. So, Mario, Sorry! Your time has passed. Give it up.

3. Jennifer Lopez

Honestly. Even though you’re “Louboutins” single is actually kind of cute and catchy, people stopped caring about you years ago. Focus on acting (re-train yourself, take some classes) and please stay out the studio.

MTV got back to when the VMA’s were actually good. They had a killer roster of performers who turned in some really great highlights. Taylor Swift performing in a subway, GaGa dying, Pink singing while doing acrobatics from the ceiling, JayZ and Alicia getting ambushed by Lil mama, and Beyonce’s hundreds upon millions dancers. And, back to form, the VMA’s delivered a water cooler topic in Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech to declare “Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time”. Staged? Well, I have my theories, but the important thing is it was a great moment that will stand against the other great moments of the VMA’s.

*Most Unnecessary Collaboration of the Year*

1. Wale and Lady GaGa “Chillin”

There’s actually nothing wrong with the song, but it was so obviously intended for M.I.A. and not Lady GaGa (who actually does make the song). I guess it was a smart decision since GaGa was so hot at the moment, but the collaboration doesn’t make sense given how both artists are from completely different worlds in genre, fan base and personality.

2. 50 Cent and NeYo “Baby By Me”

I just hate this song so much, and really upset that after releasing an album titled “Year of the Gentleman” NeYo would participate in a song with such a vile message.

3. Shakira and Lil Wayne “Give it up to Me”

Good song, but Lil Wayne really wasn’t needed and he contributes nothing. It almost sounds like one of those mixtape mash ups of one of his mix tape verses. This is the song where I, personally, officially got tired of the Weezy verse.

*Best Impersonation of another Artistof the Year*

1. Lady Gaga as Madonna on “The Fame Monster”

Bravo! GaGa has been getting Madonna comparisons since “Poker Face”, but never has she got the essence of Madonna until her “The Fame Monster” EP was released. “Alejandro” plays like a soft mash of “Cherish” and “La Isla Bonita”. And when she gets to name calling famous screen sirens and art Icons on “Dance in the Dark” (“Marilyn, Judy, Sylvia” “Liberace” “Kubrick”) it becomes obvious that the mockery is intended. (?) Never the less, she did a great job.

2. Chester French as Weezer on “Love the Future”

If you imagine that Weezer recorded an album produced by the Neptunes in 2002, it would sound pretty much exactly like Chester French’s debut “Love the Future”. Except that it would have been 10 times better.

It’s not even that this kid managed to get past security and actually get face to face with Britney and dance with her that’s funny. It’s Britney’s reaction, and how long it takes her to get back to dancing and lip-synching.

*Most needed STFU of the Year*: Alot of artists are best when they aren’t speaking (ahem, Beyonce), and these are the three artists this year that should have refrained from any interviews because it did them more damage than good.

1. Chris Brown

Doing one Larry King Interview was fine. Even though it came nearly 7 months After the well-known “Incident” in February involving Brown and than-girlfriend Rihanna (we all know the story). The interview is understandable, just to clear the air and protect his image. Unfortunately, Brown sounded pretty damn moronic during the interview. He was totally evasive about the incident itself, and sounded like he was recycling the same 5 “I was wrong! Please forgive me” sound-bites he had most likely been rehearsing for weeks. Bad interview, but it gets worst. After Rihanna did a much more respectable and revealing interview with Dianne Sawyer, Chris Brown did yet ANOTHER interview where again he revealed nothing and again was playing himself as the victim. Please Chris Brown! STFU!!! Both of you should have just let it go, nobody really cared 7 months after the fact, but Chris made it worst for himself by talking too damn much.

2. Tiffany Evans

Her tweets about Rihanna and the devils in the music industry wasn’t necessary. And when Rihanna calls her out for it, Evans tweets “at least I can sing”. Yeah, you do have a good set of pipes, but the problem is nobody wants to hear you sing. Most people don’t even know you. Rihanna is worldwide. Don’t be mad? Get some people behind you that will make things happen for you. And it doesn’t have to be the devil. While your assembling that team… STFU!!

3. Keri Hilson(tie)Whitney HoustonKeri, and not just because she dissed Beyonce in a remix to her “Turnin me On” single (“yo vision cloudy if you think that you the best, she can sing, she can dance, but need to move to the left. she need to go have some babies, she need to sit down, she fading.”), its really the fact that she went on radio and said A) she didn’t want to record it B) she said it wasn’t about anybody in particular. STFU!!Whitney, because on Oprah she said plenty of times she didn’t smoke crack. Oprah: “so you laced marijuana with cocaine” Whitney: “Yes Rock Cocaine”. colossal FAIL!!! Whitney STFU!!

From *Hottest to Weakest Producer of the Year*

1. Ryan Tedder. This guy started out the year in high demand. He had monster success in 2008 with Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love”, and coming into 2009 he had the epic “Halo” by Beyonce. Shortly after that, it seems he had peaked. Kelly Clarkson famously called Tedder out for giving her almost an exact replica of “Halo” in her own “Already Gone”. By the time the end of the year rolled around and I’m sure he was expecting to repeat the success of “Bleeding Love” with Leona’s “Happy”, but being that it sounded just the same as pretty much all his other tracks it tanked on the charts and effectively ended his reign as the “IT” Producer of the moment.

*Leaked (!?) Nude Pics of the Year*:

1. Rihanna

Just when things couldn’t get worst. She just got beat up by her boyfriend, terrorized by the paparazzi and tabloids, and lost a cosmetics contract. Than some very sexy nude pics, obviously taken with and by than boyfriend Chris Brown. Though many question the pics that show her frontal view, most people were on Rihanna overload at that point so nobody really cared much and they were soon forgotten.

2. Jamie Foxx

The funny thing when male celebrities pictures leak, they always have to come up with a statement about it. Either declaring they are fake and that they’d never do anything like that, or admit that the pictures are them, but try to spin it so they don’t seem like a big pervert. Jamie Foxx didn’t do any of that. He or his team just made sure they were removed before it got to millions of viewers, which is something that surprisingly alot of those other guys don’t make the effort to do.

3. Cassie

For the amount of times nude pictures have leaked of a celebrity, Cassie gets the crown this year. Although she’s not much of a celebrity.

>Probably the most anticipated album in years was finally released about two weeks ago. I’m talking of course about Maxwell‘s “BLACKsummers’night“, his first album in over 8 years. In today’s industry, going 8 years between albums is unheard of. Especially without releasing ANY material within that time frame, like a Greatest Hits or Live album or even a Remix or Duets album. And to be honest, at about year 4 I wasn’t sure if we’d ever hear another Maxwell CD again. It actually surprises me that his label allowed such a long break, but I guess it takes a truly dynamic and unique artist to get away with that. And Maxwell definitely fits the bill, and this album shows why.
Now, was the album worth the wait? Of course. The thing is, Maxwell is very much driving in his own lane. He’s true R&B, he’s never given in to gimmicks physically or musically to help sell records. And that definitely makes him stand out amongst all the rest of the R&B crooners out there. In fact he’s so beyond most of them, that he practically has no peers anymore. So if he was gone for 10 or 15 years, any album of his would be worth the wait because you aren’t going to get truly genuine R&B out of anybody else but him. At certain points, like the opening track “Bad Habits”, you can hear definite inspiration vocally from Marvin Gaye and Prince yet it never sounds like he is mocking their style, just adding hints into to his own very unique vocal delivery. And the writing on this album is pretty amazing. The album might seem on the surface like a Love Story, the musical accompaniment is very smooth and sweet R&B but the lyrical content illustrates a relationship gone terribly wrong thanks to a woman who turned so “Cold” (one of the stand out tracks on the album… “Global warming ain’t got nothing on this chic she’s not to play wit”). The albums first single “Pretty Wings” is a perfect example, one of the sweetest R&B songs you can imagine, except you get lyrics like “You toyed with my affliction, Had to fill out my prescription, Found the remedy, I had to set you free”.
I think the most exciting thing about Maxwell coming back is that we finally have an ARTIST in the record stores again. True artists are few and far between these days, you even have great artists that buckle under label pressure to conform to what is popular for radio play. Maxwell definitely delivered something that is thought provoking, and is simply great music. There are a few songs that maybe could use some work, but with only 9 songs at least everything works well together. And an additional note, whatever session band he used for this album (I did read that it was the band he normally tours with), they did an EXCELLENT job. In fact, I’d put the instrumentation on this album above the vocal and lyrical work he excelled at.

So, part of me thinks that last review was a little harsh on the other R&B dudes out there. Sure Anthony Hamilton still puts out quality R&B, Musiq Soulchild is up there just not necessarily on the same level. Stepping outside of the Neo-Soul realm, there aren’t many really great Male R&B Arists, and I say that simply because they all generally sound the same. And about 4 years ago I would have said the same thing about Ginuwine, who released his sixth album “A Man’s Thoughts” at the end of June. His previous album “Back II Basics” might have been good, but it seemed that since him and Timbaland parted ways earlier this decade, that he didn’t have much to offer the music world. He’s had the occasional hit since, but hasn’t put together a truly solid album since his sophomore 1999 album “100% Ginuwine”. “A Man’s Thoughts” finds Ginuwine in a much more mature place, don’t get me wrong there is definite filler, but for the most part it’s a pretty satisfying R&B record. Mainly because he’s not going through the cliched Male R&B concepts… “Your man ain’t nothing… get with me” or “I’m gonna sex you down like a (insert non-clever euphemism)” or “I cheated on you, so why won’t you forgive me”. This album he’s really talking about being with ONE woman, appreciating her, and owning up to responsibilities as a man. The true stand out, and probably one of the best songs he’s recorded in about 7 years, is the albums first single “Last Chance” a song about realizing what you have in a woman and doing whatever you can to make it work “I’m gonna do it, from a boy to a man, like Barrack and his plan — if this is my last chance to love you, I’m gonna play it like a grown man ought to”. Such a refreshing song to hear on the radio, although it’s unfortunate “Birthday Sex” is heating up the charts instead (I actually do like that song by the way). Good Job Ginuwine, not the greatest release of this year by any means but definitely a job well done on his part and something people should definitely check out.

Enough about guys, let’s talk about chicks man (LOL, “Soup” reference. GET IT?) Jordin Sparks has just released (today July 21st) her sophomore effort “Battlefield“. And yes, she did release a debut… it’s just without the huge hit of “No Air” with Chris Brown a lot of people probably didn’t even notice. Her debut was literally a paint by numbers pop album, and I’m not going to pretend her follow up isn’t. However, on this album you do get more of a sense of who exactly she is. She has definitely grown vocally, and mainly because she seems to bring a lot more attitude to her performances on this album. “Emergency (911)” might be the best example, it’s also a great example of how age-appropriate this album is. The song talks about a boyfriend who isn’t showing enough attention and the girlfriend who is practically begging for it and at the same time is giving him a final warning. Sparks definitely is treading the line of a teen Icon and a burgeoning adult Diva, and she does a fine job of not over stepping either line with the material on this album. Of course it is a pretty Safe pop album, covering all the basics. There’s a little Pop-lite Rock, there’s Pop-lite Dance and Pop-lite R&B. There’s even a few Whitney/Mariah type power ballads (specifically “Was I The Only One”). This isn’t a great album, but it doesn’t have anything on it that is terror to the ears. Sometimes you don’t need amazing material for people to notice you, just some sort of a personality on said material and she actually does a really fine job of bringing that out on this album finally. I’ve always been a Jordin fan from her days on Idol, I was pleased with her win (even though I was a bigger fan of Blake and Melinda) because she was the contestant with the highest chances for Pop Domination and she’s getting that much closer. I’d expect to hear her second single “SOS (Let the Music Play)” all over Pop radio in the coming weeks (though I could be wrong, because I predicted the albums title track would be huge and it’s slowly creeping up the charts)

And I’m DONE!!!
I might post a few more album reviews this week… i DO have a bunch to review that I’ve been really lazy about.